My father co-wrote a series for the Times Pic back in March called Last Chance. The series discusses coastal erosion, how we are loosing our coast and how Louisiana can hope to save it and rebuild it (good read by the by). The series was announced today as one of the finalists for the 2007 Investigative Reporters and Editors Awards. It was a finalist for a medal (the highest IRE Award) in the medium sized newspaper category. Congrats.
Archive for the 'News' Category
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This weekend I decided to return to the past via my phone number. You see, right before Katrina Mandy and I decided to loan the brother in law, Adam, my cell phone. due to the storm I did not get back the phone until very recently. We decided to let him keep it indefinitely and added a third line to the plan for me with a Florida number. The plan was never to keep that number indefinitely, but only until we settled somewhere and then it would change area codes (I have been paying a florida and louisiana cell phone tax for over two years now). Well, since Adam got a new job with a work cell phone he didn’t need our extra line anymore. Since that was back in November and he passed out his new number to all who needed it and since its now March, I figured I could take back the line and return to my pre-Katrina number.Yes that’s right, my cell phone number is changing. If you need to call Mike, call his old cell phone number (the one from way back in the day) or Adam’s old number (the new orleans area code one). If you don’t know what that number is either email Mike at any of his addresses or use the contact form on this page to ping me for my new old number.Yay, new old numbers.
Kids on myspace announce a boycott of Clearview mall this weekend and I jump for joy. The mall has reached the point of crowded high school gym with screaming abandoned children who don’t spend money and get in the way and keep the public out of the mall on weekends.
I miss going to the movies with my wife, please stay out of the mall.
HanDBase is made by the company that Mandy’s brother David works for. If you’ve called their tech support hotline or developed for HanDBase, it’s likely you talked to David once or twice since he’s on that line all the time. If you have a palm os or windows mobile device be sure to check out HanDBase and read the full review along with CEO interview at TreoCentral.
In addressing faculty assignments, Superintendent Diane Roussel has exclusive authority to assign teachers to schools for the next two years. The annual job fair, which is traditionally used to recruit, will no longer be conducted, as all teacher assignments for the coming year will be handled by Roussel.
Teachers with advanced degrees and certification will be assigned in an effort to achieve an equal distribution across the parish, the document says. To achieve the stability required by the order, faculty positions will be frozen for three years after the initial two-year hiring window.
“This is going to help put some consistency in there,” Roussel said.
The order also supersedes the terms of the teachers union’s collective bargaining agreement, which typically dictates transfer procedures, attorneys said. But Roussel emphasized that she was not expecting any wholesale movement of faculty over the next two years.
Officials also mitigated potential problems by prohibiting cross-river teacher transfers as part of the order.
via NOLA.com
Now what do you think that means? And how can the teachers union protest when its wrapped in a desegregation law without looking racist? How would you like to be told you can’t apply for a transfer because we won’t be posting any jobs only the top person can move you (at her discretion) and then you are stuck for the next 3 to 5 years.
Or you can quit.
Yesterday the Columbia Journalism Review announced that the LA Times and the Times Picayune are sharing the 2007 Oakes Award for Environmental Journalism. My father was one of the three reporters who wrote stories as part of the Last Chance coastal erosion series that won the award. Congrats to all involved. And congrats to dad on the award (now time for pulitzer number four!).
Apparently a juicy picture I took of some wonderful Louisiana Strawberries got noticed by a new site about going green in New Orleans. Their page on NOLA Locavores features the pic and some interesting news on the state of eating local to go green.
Makes sense, right? If you eat locally produced food less CO2 will be released and less gas used since the goods don’t have to travel as far.
The photo was uploaded to Flickr at 10 Feb ’07, 8.42pm CST PST by schleifnet.
See a larger version at Flickr.
EDIT: just an FYI, the pic was used with my permission. The webmaster contacted me via flickr and since the site is going to be non-profit and the owner had an ok record on flickr. So I said ok.
